Postmodern Romance
by EscapeToCity
Summary: A business trip, conversations, sightseeing, revelations...SLASH, Please read and review if you can


POSTMODERN ROMANCE  
  
Author: EscapeToCity  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these guys....AOL Time Warner/DC Comics, Millar/Gough and Tollin/Robbins do.  
  
Story notes: A business trip, a little quarreling, possible relocation, lots of talk, some love. This story was inspired by a recent trip.  
  
Please read and tell me what you think. -JB @ Manzanillo  
  
Email: EscapeToCity@aol.com  
  
***  
  
"Everything is someone else's."  
  
Lex was frowning and Clark could see the dark circles looming under his eyes. He hadn't meant for everything to go this far. Change, redesign, reevaluation, realization...he was weary from it all...  
  
Beneath the LexCorp jet the prairie expanded and Clark saw less and less greenery and more tract housing, a sluggish creek here and there, the beginnings of massive, fibrous expressways.  
  
A voice came out over the speaker:  
  
"We'll be landing at Hobby in five minutes, Mr. Luthor. Please secure everything and welcome to Houston, sir."  
  
Lex nodded, still frowning. He looked to Clark.  
  
"Put the magazines up, please. They have to descend steeply to make the runway."  
  
His voice was cold and distant and sharp and Clark grimaced. He was beginning to think this trip wasn't such a good idea. He reached out and rubbed Lex's left hand. Lex tensed up at his touch and Clark leaned in, trying to hug him, feel him...  
  
"Lex...I know things have been hard...but...but I promise everything will be fine. You need to trust me."  
  
Lex laughed out loud.  
  
"Trust? Trust? You? I think someone needs to brush up on their Merriam Webster."  
  
"Not funny and not nice, Lex. Why don't we just try to have some silent time until we get to the office."  
  
"Silent time! What the fuck...did your father just fly into the cabin? Don't treat me like a child--"  
  
"--then don't act like a spoiled brat. You know how I feel. Let go of all this damn paranoia. Please. For both of our sakes."  
  
Lex looked at Clark then closed his eyes.  
  
Only the Texas heat and humidity was thicker than the tension.  
  
The plane hit the tarmac and the loud bump shook Clark to his core. He still hated flying. Looking out the tiny round window he saw a very pedestrian looking airport. Dull, '70s structures painted tan. He touched the glass...it was scorchingly hot.  
  
"Mr. Luthor..." the pilot's pleasant voice rang out..."the temperature is ninety-four, slight breeze from the gulf, storms expected late in the evening."  
  
Lex still had his eyes closed.  
  
***  
  
Navigating William Hobby Airport wasn't hard because the airport wasn't large at all. It is home to very few carriers--Southwest Airlines and other regionals. Clark had marveled at the size of Metropolis International, with its twenty terminals and hundreds of daily flights, not to mention the great pizza they served in the VIP lounge.  
  
They didn't even have pizza here. Only a sad looking taco place. And that greasy place Popeye's.  
  
Lex liked Hobby because it was much closer to Downtown than Bush Intercontinental. Traffic could be nightmarish here.  
  
The bags were commandered by a rather severe looking gentleman with a baseball cap. He wore a black shirt with 'LexEnergy' written across it in bold white letters. Clark noticed Lex was sweating a little. He handed him a cloth from his bag--  
  
"It's alright, Clark. But thank you."  
  
Lex smiled just slightly. Clark beamed back, hoping for a crack in the stonewall.  
  
"Everything's fine."  
  
In the limo, Lex looked pale and withdrawn; Clark tried not to notice, he spent his time looking out, absorbing the sights of a place he'd never been. So far all he saw was freeway exits and far too many strip malls. More restaurants and grocery stores and cars than he'd ever seen, even in Metropolis. How many McDonalds' and Exxon stations could one place need? Everything looked excessive, overpowering. He was surprised to see the occassional palm tree; he hadn't known it was warm enough for them to grow here.  
  
The limo moved into the HOV lane and began to climb a giant flyover. Clark moved so he could hopefully catch a glimpse of the old Astrodome and the new football complex. He finally made them out; the old, hulking structure overwhelmed by the newer, glitzier Reliant Stadium. The Houston Texans...they were kinda lousy. The Astros used to play out here...Lex had said he would take him to their newer home...Minute Maid Field...what a goofy name! He had loved the Astros baseball team as a kid; he and Jonathan used to sit in the den and watch the game, laughing and eating popcorn. Things were so simple then, so one-dimensional. Whoever said simple was bad was a fool...  
  
Lex was asleep.  
  
Clark kept looking out and suddenly noticed that the city had as many high rise towers as Metropolis, maybe even more. He saw tall buildings everywhere he looked, especially on the western horizon, where one black glass building stood at least fifty floors above the rest. He wondered if that's where LexEnergy's offices were. He saw another cluster of skyscrapers, this group even taller and grander, directly ahead. The group of buildings looked like an impenetrable fortress. The driver noticed his interest and spoke--  
  
"Sir, we're headed to 707 McKinney Street. That's downtown."  
  
Clark smiled. "Thank you. That one...with the spire...is that the LexEnergy Centre?"  
  
"Sure is. Brand new. A thing of beauty, for sure. We didn't know if they were going to actually finish it, with 9-11 and all."  
  
"Of course. How tall is it?"  
  
"Fourteen Hundred Fifty Five Feet. Ninety floors. Second tallest building in the world, for now. They keep building all those tall ones in Asia, though. Nevertheless, it certainly is something to behold."  
  
"Yeah..." Lex never knew how not to make a spectacle. Clark had heard vaguely about LexEnergy's Houston project; he'd seen random sketches and overheard conversations about leasing and financing. He just hadn't paid much attention. That was at the beginning of the relationship, when everything was subtle. He almost missed those days. Again, one-dimension was much easier to deal with.  
  
He could see it now. LexEnergy Centre. It was spectacular.  
  
A slender spire of banded granite and glass rising from the center of downtown; it dominated the skyline yet existed in perfect symmetry with it. Clark had thought the LuthorCorp. building in Metropolis was extravagant but it had nothing on this.  
  
"Amazing." He found himself saying out loud. He felt fingers in his. Lex.  
  
"The tower...yes, it is amazing. It should be for three hundred million dollars."  
  
"Why here? Why not Metropolis?"  
  
"My father has an iron grip on Metropolis. Plus, I figure the future lies in energy. Everybody wants it, everybody needs it, the technological advances are amazing and the profit margin is beautiful. It's all about diversification, Clark."  
  
"I get it."  
  
The limo pulled up at the entrance to the tower. A wide row of cypress trees, backed by what had to be a hundred bubbling fountains lined the sidewalk. Behind that, two giant sculptures sat in a sunken plaza, ringed by palm trees. The brushed steel doors leading into the tower were crowned by just three golden letters. L.E.X.  
  
"Discreet, Lex." Clark chuckled.  
  
"I've got to let them know I've joined the party, Clark. You know that hiding never solves anything. Discretion is for the suicidal."  
  
Inside the lobby Clark noticed that workers were still applying paint, installing decorative fixtures and lights and laying tile. Lex walked briskly towards a elevator lobby, lined in what appeared to be gold.  
  
"18 K, Clark. The insurers told me not to go any higher. People might try to rip some off while waiting for the elevator."  
  
"Ahh, I see." Clark was glad to see Lex in what seemed to be a better mood but was kind of taken aback by the opulence. The castle in Smallville was one thing. The penthouse in Metropolis was extreme. But this....this was surreal and jarring and something just wasn't right. Somehow this didn't feel like just an office tower...it was like...  
  
"--Susan B. Anthony for your thoughts, Clark?" Lex was smirking. He knew when Clark was pondering something. Squinty eyes and pursed lips.  
  
"No...just thinking about how my Mom would love those sculptures out front. Who did them?"  
  
"The one on the left is a Bourdelle, the right a Matisse."  
  
"The same Matisse as the guy who painted that cool picture we saw in Metropolis? Wow."  
  
"Same guy." Lex smiled genuinely. "It cost me an arm and half a leg."  
  
Clark laughed.  
  
They entered the elevator and Lex placed his palm on a flat, nondescript screen above the emergency phone. Suddenly, the lights dimmed and they began to rise. Clark then noticed the side panels of the unit were glass, from top to bottom.  
  
"Don't get scared, Clark. I'm here, alright. I'm here."  
  
Clark didn't like heights even though he could sometimes float up to fifty feet above the ground. He didn't like heights because it was true-- what went up will always come down-- true in everything in life. He grasped Lex's hand....tightly, but not too tightly...Lex hadn't been big on touching lately...  
  
"We've only got eighty-eight floors to go, kiddo."  
  
They rose up through the atrium lobby and soon Clark realized the elevator column was perched on the side of the tower itself. Buildings sank beneath them and he could make out tiny people and cars far below. Mist began to swirl outside and he started to shudder when a tiny bell rang out, followed by a feminine, metallic voice.  
  
"Tower level, eighty-eight."  
  
"We're here, Clark. See, you did just fine."  
  
Lex was calm now....as if he were at home here....here at the top of a city, in an office Clark could only describe as movie-set chic. Like Oz. The floor was pink granite, the walls painted in swirling blues and whites...like clouds...monitors were set into the right side wall and in the center sat a magnificent round crystal table, adorned with a laptop, some files, a single framed picture, and a vase full of stargazer lillies.  
  
"Her favorite, of course." Lex motioned to the flowers. Clark smiled sadly at the picture of Lillian Luthor, her red hair blowing in the breeze of the distant past.  
  
"Have a seat, Clark."  
  
There were only two chairs.  
  
"So...you said we came down here so you could oversee the completion of this building and the opening of the LexEnergy division. I get that, Lex....but we need to talk, too. We need some time to figure out what's going on."  
  
"I thought you knew what was going on. You're getting a nice little summer trip, I get to take care of my company. Nothing more, nothing less."  
  
"There's so much more, Lex. So much...please don't shut down on me...you've been doing that so often lately."  
  
Lex glared at Clark from across the desk. Clark instantly regretted going down this path...  
  
"Shutting down on you? That's strange. I'm not the one who was virtually licking that blonde tramp friend of yours at the Spring Dance. I'm not the one who left poor little lost Lana on the floor crying. I'm not the one who can't control himself. Come to think of it, I'm not the one who's afraid to tell his parents the truth. Not that Lionel would care much anyway. Shutting down? No, Clark...I am very operational, thank you."  
  
"Please, let's not fight. We've been over the day of the dance a thousand times. It was the red rock--"  
  
"Ahh yes, the red kryptonite. Cocaine for Krypton's only son. Freestyle feel good responsibility remover for your deepest, darkest desires. Fuck that, Clark."  
  
Clark tensed up as Lex's voice took on its infamous snarling edge...  
  
"If I wanted to be used, I'd buy Victoria back or maybe that pheremonal bitch Desiree. If I wanted to be hurt I'd shoot myself in the head with one of Lionel's guns. If I didn't love you, I'd do all of that and make you watch. Do I sound shut down?"  
  
Clark began to cry... "I can't help it...Lex...the red kryptonite...it's...it's..."  
  
Lex's face softened and he pulled some papers out of his briefcase. "We've taken care of that now, haven't we. I've had the misfortune to see your wild side and we've taken steps, yes?"  
  
Clark didn't want to think about it....it was horrible...the 'step' he had agreed to....but even his parents were afraid of his dark self....he x- rayed Lex's case...the box was there, tiny and malevolent, yet comforting and calming...  
  
"I see you brought it, Lex. I-I...I'm glad. Although I am pretty sure there's no kryptonite in Texas." He smiled weakly.  
  
"Not as far as we know. But I can't take chances. Because I do love you, Clark."  
  
"I know you do."  
  
The conversation had ruined any plans for lunch and for three hours Lex studied files and ranted with executives on the phone. Clark watched cable on the monitors and watched the city below....  
  
"I think it's time for dinner, Clark. Your favorite?" Lex was smiling....not happily...but he did look more secure...Clark relished even this tentative step...  
  
"Yes, Lex...I mean...we don't have to fly back to Metropolis for it? They have one here?"  
  
"They have everything here. It's a very underrated city."  
  
***  
  
The Houston Galleria was one of the largest malls in the nation, if not the world. Three million square feet of endless fashion, food, not to mention the ice skating rink, hotels, and office towers. Built in the 1970s, expanded several times since, the mall is the city's top tourist attraction. It was even larger than the Luthor Promenade in Metropolis. Clark wasn't much for shopping but he'd never seen a shopping mall so elaborate.  
  
"I usually fly in, Clark. There's a helipad atop the garage."  
  
As the limo pulled up in the valet lane of Neiman's, the driver made both Clark and Lex laugh with a story of how he'd gone to the Galleria looking for a birthday gift for his wife and nearly ended up mortgaging their home for a Cartier blue diamond. The driver was honest and earnest and Clark wished more LexCorp. employees were like that. Most of the ones in Smallville were indifferent and the ones in Metropolis were downright sinister. Here, everything seemed more relaxed and slow....  
  
Clark and Lex walked through Neiman-Marcus, Clark's eyes roaming everywhere; every blue-haired oil dowager in the place drooled at the sight of him. He didn't notice. He loved the physical design of the store; everything warm and beige and marble and he could hear a piano player somewhere--  
  
"The player at Nordstrom's is better." Lex squeezed his hand. "That shirt would look great on you."  
  
Lex was looking at a Tommy Bahama shirt. Clark walked over and grabbed the label, turning it over. He frowned.  
  
"Ninety-six dollars! Lex, you know what my Mom said. Nothing I don't need. She meant it, Lex."  
  
Lex was giggling like a moron..."You need this Clark...it's soft, easy- wear...easy to get into, out of..." He leaned forward as if to kiss him...backing off an inch from his mouth. Clark sighed deeply.  
  
"Kiss me, Lex. Please."  
  
"I can't, Clark...I'm sorry....I just can't...you know why..."  
  
I'm tired of layers, of complications, Lex....Clark wanted desperately to tell him he wanted him, needed him....that the things he'd said, the things he'd done...when high on red k didn't matter-- they weren't true...Lex could never be ugly, he could never be doomed...Clark didn't want Chloe or Lana...he wanted Lex...  
  
"Let's just go eat, Clark...." the color had drained from Lex's face and Clark hated himself.  
  
They walked out of Neiman's-- after Clark bought a gigantic tin of Red River popcorn and entered the main mall concourse. A glass dome covered the entire roof and what looked to be thousands of people milled about on the multiple levels. Clark wasn't much for crowds but Lex strode through it all, regal and unknowing. He was known though...  
  
"That's Lex Luthor!"  
  
"He bought up what was left of Enron, didn't he?"  
  
"He's cute! Who's the tall guy?"  
  
"He looks smaller than on TV!"  
  
A flash went off and Lex gave off a deceptively warm smile...  
  
"Cat Grant reported that Lex was dating Britney!"  
  
"Oh no she didnt! He's mine!"  
  
"Who's the hot guy with him?"  
  
"I thought he was with J. Lo?"  
  
"They say he's going to take over the town!"  
  
"I'm not sure that's such a good thing. We hear things about Metropolis..."  
  
Clark could hear it all and it gave him a slight headache. He stopped in front of Fred Joallier and Lex turned back and gave him a sympathetic hug...  
  
"You've got to get used to this part. You're with a psuedo-celebrity. Famous for simple being famous."  
  
"I'll never get used to this. They all want to be you, know you, get inside your head."  
  
"I only let one person in there, Clark, and I think you know him quite well."  
  
"It's the hearing thing, Lex, too...it hurts..."  
  
"We'll have to work on that when we get back to the castle. With your parents' permission of course."  
  
"O.K."  
  
***  
  
Dinner at the The Cheesecake Factory was not something Lex was thrilled at but the look on Clark's face made it worthwhile. The restaurant chain seemed to have taken the entire nation by storm; in Metropolis people lined up for hours to get in. Houston was no different, except when Lex Luthor approached the greeting station he was led immediately to a table on the terrace, overlooking the endless parking lots and skyscrapers of the Galleria...  
  
"Could I please have the roadside sliders, two orders of chicken pot stickers, and a slice of blueberry cheesecake?"  
  
Clark felt ravenous.  
  
"Of course. And for you, sir?"  
  
Lex felt far too sober.  
  
"Dirty martini. Bombay Sapphire. And a bowl of olives."  
  
Clark knew better than to force Lex to order something. Lex ate rarely and only when he was completely comfortable. Contrary to what he had said earlier, the leering crowds were making him nervous.  
  
"You alright, guy?"  
  
Clark hadn't called him *guy* in over a month. It was his cheesy little nickname for Lex; the equivalent of *kiddo* from the latter...  
  
"Yeah....kiddo....I'm fine. Just tired. Kind of stressed out about this whole new venture and all. It's a very big deal to start an entirely new energy firm. I'm bringing in the best people from Denver, New Orleans, Midland, Calgary, even Dubai...guys who have had decades of experience developing resources. Still, it's a risk."  
  
"Are you worried about Lionel?"  
  
"For once in my life, no. Lionel has what he wants. He's got the mirror- image demon seed he wanted...Lucas and Lionel are perfect together. Let them destroy each other's lives. I was lucky to get away from both of them."  
  
"You're not upset about the money anymore?"  
  
"Why would I be? My mother left me two point five in trust, Clark. Lionel never could or can touch that. So I don't have access to the larger fortune...who wants it? It's tainted, Clark. Tainted money, fake pride and bad memories. I've got great business partners, good creditors and a good business rep. Believe me, Clark...being on my own is great. Not to mention Lionel was getting far too close to figuring you out..."  
  
Clark nodded, sipping his coke. Lionel had gotten very close, indeed. On the night of the Spring Dance when Clark terrorized half the town; the night he gave his father a concussion and tried to run Martha down with the truck when she refused to give him her credit cards; the night he nearly raped Lana and virtually deflowered Chloe; the night when Lex walked in on the latter, his face collapsing in grief, Clark laughing at him, gloating....Chloe crying...Lionel walking into the billiard room and finding tattered, shocked Lana in tears....  
  
Everything caught on tape.  
  
Let's just say it was all a little too much too fast....Lionel had been very forward....asking Clark if he were a mutant.....or even something more...  
  
"I hated making you bleed, Clark. I fucking hated it. But you know we do what we have to do."  
  
"I know."  
  
Lionel's assertions that Clark was some kind of super being were quashed only when Lex covertly opened the lead box containing a sliver of green K. Lex then pretended to attack Clark in front of his father, sucker punching him and making his nose bleed. Lionel had called Lex a 'great shot' and Clark 'a pathetic excuse for Jonathan's son'....laughing, Lionel had told Lex in no way could Clark be a 'missing link'...  
  
("He's simply a farmboy drug addict, son...pathetic...poor Jonathan...poor Martha...look at the way he's heaving and such, almost comedic, really...."..."...you're right, father....Clark is nothing...he's a junkie...just look at him...sad, really..." Lex's voice cracked on every word...)  
  
"I'm glad I told you the truth about me at Christmas, Lex. If you hadn't known to use green K...."  
  
A martini appeared in front of Lex and he drained it. "Another one, ma'am..." The waitress winked at Clark and left the table...  
  
"This isn't really a good conversation, Clark. Christmas, Clark...how ironic....things were so clear then, so unadorned...like a beautiful douglas fir alone on a mountaintop, tall and healthy...never needing tinsel or a star....only to be cut down and dressed up like a cheap whore..."  
  
"Maybe you shouldn't drink, Lex. Please...we agreed...no more arguing."  
  
"We did agree, Clark. We always agree. In the end."  
  
The food arrived and they ate in silence. Strange, Clark thought, we used to be so at ease. The conversation flowed like water. Now it was frozen like icicles on the barn in a dark, cold winter...  
  
The waitress kept bringing gin and olives and winking...  
  
***  
  
"I want to show you something. And we do need to talk."  
  
Lex was drunk. Clark didn't know what was going to happen.  
  
"O.K."  
  
Lex led Clark back through the mall and towards an elevated skyway over West Alabama Street. The corridor spooked Clark...it was lit in neon blue and seemed to shake a little as Lex paraded down it. No shoppers here, only a lone security detail at the far end. He nodded to Lex, who nodded back. Clark smiled, the guard frowned.  
  
"Where are we--"  
  
"Just a few seconds..."  
  
Clark followed Lex down an escalator into what looked like a smaller, less opulent version of the LexEnergy tower downtown.  
  
"This is the Williams Tower. Williams is a very large energy interest based in Tulsa."  
  
It was the dark, brooding tower Clark had noticed from the freeway upon their arrival. It hovered over them...sixty-four floors of stone and steel...  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Come on, our destination lies right outside these double doors."  
  
Lex then took Clark's hand.  
  
"Close your eyes, kiddo. No x-ray cheating."  
  
"O.K."  
  
Clark heard grass crunching beneath his feet. Just moments before, he had been standing on marble, on tile, on granite...now here was grass...what was going on? He heard a dull roar....growing stronger and stronger. It hummed like a river. He hadn't noticed any rivers in this part of Houston. Where was Lex taking him?  
  
"Just keep walking."  
  
The water sounded like it was falling but Clark didn't feel rain on his skin. The sound enveloped him and he grasped Lex's hand tighter-- he began to get a tad scared...he hoped Lex wasn't about to jump off into a sewage plant or something. Clark had fallen off dams before; he didn't relish reliving the experience.  
  
"Lex--"  
  
"Wait, kiddo...I need you to step over a little wall...keep your eyes closed."  
  
Clark stepped over what must have been a low retaining wall and found himself knee deep in water. Lex was still holding his hand. Clark was angry. Lex was hammered and this was scaring him.  
  
"Open your eyes. Look."  
  
Water...rivulets and currents and channels and sprays and falls and rushes and paths...all falling towards them...Lex motioned Clark to come closer to him....Lex was backing up against the monolithic granite wall from which the water poured. Within seconds, both of them were soaked.  
  
Water was running all over his face....in his mouth...he had to tune in his super hearing to hear Lex's voice above the thunderous pounding of the waters...  
  
"What....what is this Lex?"  
  
"The Water Wall. Philip Johnson and John Burgee. Completed 1985."  
  
"OK....background...but what is this?....why are we here, Lex? Why? You're gonna catch....catch...a cold..."  
  
"I want things clean, Clark. Simple. Uncomplicated. Help me. Please."  
  
The water got in Lex's eyes and stung them and Clark pulled him into a close hug, his arms circling him...  
  
"I'm so sorry, Lex....I should have controlled myself...."  
  
"--you couldn't help it, kiddo...."  
  
"...that's no excuse....you told me once that a man controls his destiny...that a person can always make a choice..."  
  
"...I did?...."  
  
"I need you so badly, Lex...in my life...to keep me safe...."  
  
"I need you, Clark....or I will die. I will entomb myself in that new tower and hide behind my money and my name."  
  
The force of the water was starting to literally bruise Lex...his shirt was torn...Clark began trying to pull him away from the wall...  
  
"But you make me feel dirty, Clark. You cheated on me."  
  
"No, Lex...no..."  
  
Lex resisted.  
  
"Clark....baby...did you mean what you said? Did you? That I was vain and evil? That no one could ever love me? That I was better off dead?"  
  
Tears that formed in Clark's eyes were washed away by the waterfall but Clark's mouth spoke of their regret...  
  
"I said it....you heard me say it....I said it and I was fucked up and that's no excuse....I said it because you still scared me then....I thought you might hurt me or use me...I was afraid to admit to myself, even my red self, that I love you..."  
  
"...I'm afraid...what's going to happen to us, Clark?"  
  
"We're both afraid....and we have to find a way to kill that fear."  
  
Lex looked dazed....and Clark was getting more and more worried.  
  
"Remember the river?"  
  
"Of course I do."  
  
"Water below me, water absolve me."  
  
"What?"  
  
"The night of the Spring Dance....you said....you said you would do it for me....you would be merciful and kill me yourself....would you, Clark....would you....?"  
  
"Oh my God, Lex....don't say things like that..."  
  
"It'll look like an accident, Clark. Here, a drunken Luthor passed out in the Water Wall and bit the big one. My people will get you back to Smallville. You can be straight, you can be happy. You can date girls and get along with your parents and pretend that you never knew me. You can be normal, Clark. Something I never was."  
  
"You bastard, Lex! Don't...don't you hear me...I love you....I love you...I'm not going to let you die...I'm not ever going to hurt you on purpose...there will be times when things will happen when inadvertently I will screw you over. And you will do the same. And that's life, Lex. That's life."  
  
"Why does it have to be so complicated? I loved you from the first time I kissed you, after Ryan died...when you found me crying...remember the blood on the comics...his blood...he...he knew....what we would become, Clark...he knew...and I knew...and you knew...and I love you and I don't want to die I just can't lose you....I can't lose you to red rocks or expensive clothes or stock options....Clark...fuck...you're my best friend....and you're cute and hung and wonderful...and I am such a paranoid freak....and you suck...and...umm...why can't we just lay out on a blanket and watch the stars? I need a drink."  
  
"Because nothing in 2004 is easy, Lex. Nothing at all. Nothing is going to be easy for us. We're going to have to forge a new way. And you're never drinking again."  
  
***  
  
Eventually Clark coaxed Lex out of the Williams Water Wall and into dry clothes and sleep. Lex had a horrific hangover but Clark's tender embrace made up for the vomiting.  
  
Part of Lex would always be afraid of Red Clark. Part of Clark would always fear King Lex.  
Clark and Lex had learned the hard way that romance and love and all that good stuff weren't easy projects in modern times. Like the buildings of Houston....those gabled, granite, golden glass monuments...everything borrows from something else and in doing so, adds a layer of complexity to the formula. The layering sometimes creates a crushing blow to struggling situations...undermining legitimacy, blasphemizing the past, mocking sincerity and truth.  
  
Yet...  
Sometimes layers can be peeled back. Sometimes you can deconstruct the pretense, cut off the lights, strip the facade and find out what truly exists. There. Under. The skeleton frame of the structure. The plan itself.  
A foundation.  
"We're going to tell your parents."  
"Yes. About moving next year and us and everything. They will want to discuss it, of course. But I can go to school there and my Dad will love the season tickets."  
  
"Did you call Henry Small to check on Lana?"  
  
"Yes...she doesn't want to see me but he said Pete came and spoke to her about it."  
  
"Do you think Pete told her--"  
  
"I don't know. If he had to, so be it. I never wanted to hurt her."  
  
"And Chloe?"  
  
"That bridge is permanently burned."  
  
"I'm sorry, kiddo...I know she was a good friend."  
  
"Things happen, guy. Good things, bad things. And they will keep happening. But as long as I have you and we're honest with each other...well, then everything will work out as well as it can."  
A function.  
"Very pragmatic, Mr. Kent. No secrets. No more layers."  
Clark leaned in and gave Lex a deep kiss...pulling back he smiled, eyes sparkling...  
"The only kind of laying I want to do is with you, Lex Luthor. Never forget that."  
A future.  
END of 'Postmodern Romance'  
Postscript: I based the idea for the 'LexEnergy Centre' on an unbuilt plan for the 'Bank of the Southwest Tower'...this 1982 Helmut Jahn design was aesthetically gorgeous and an engineering breakthrough; it would have been a great addition for Houston; it was canceled due to the 1980s oil bust...Helmut Jahn went on to design the One & Two Liberty Place towers in Center City Philadelphia which (if you are familiar with them) give you an idea of what the 'LexEnergy Centre' would look like. 


End file.
